Longtime Lakeside resident Elizabeth Schrader passed away June 8, 2013 at her home in Vista Del Lago with her daughters at her side. She was 82 years old.
Born January 25, 1931 in Dearborn, Michigan, Schrader was the youngest of five and graduated from Plymouth High School in 1949.
She grew up in Michigan, riding her horse, Dusty, hunting with her brothers in the woods, swimming at a lake cabin and learning to fly airplanes!
In fact, her first date with her future husband was flying in his plane!
Betty married William (Bill) Schrader in 1964 and they had two daughters. Together with Kim, Betty’s daughter from a previous marriage, they lived mostly in Michigan, with a short spell in South Bend, Indiana, until approximately 1968, when Bill took a job in Minnesota.
Schrader worked part time at various jobs, including a bakery in Lake City, a bank in Elk River and the library at Honeywell, all in Minnesota.
While working full time and maintaining a busy household, she also completed an Associate in Arts Degree in 1987.
She and her husband William (Bill) Schrader moved to the Lakeside area in June 1993. One month later she started volunteering at the Lake Chapala Society (LCS) in Ajijic. During the 18-plus years she was there she served in several important positions including: membership chairperson; assistant in the business office; treasurer and in the video library where she designed a mail contact program to recover overdue videos. In addition, she handled written and email correspondence in response to the many requests for information addressed to LCS. But her legacy at LCS will live on in the Post-Life Program. She designed and prepared forms and documents, sometimes in her own time on her home computer, and maintained the records and files of this important program.
In addition to her work at LCS she volunteered at the Humane Society and always looked forward to working at the annual Chili Cookoff.
Schrader is preceded in death by her husband Bill (2009) and survived by her daughters Cyan Schrader of New Mexico, and Pia Schrader Heldt and her son-in-law Phillip Heldt of Wisconsin.
A celebration of her life was held at the Lake Chapala Society on June 17.